India observed World Snake Day on 16 July with public programmes at the National Zoological Park in New Delhi, Patna Zoo and other venues aimed at improving awareness of snakes’ ecological role and of the country’s heavy snakebite burden. The events come four months after New Delhi introduced the National Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Snakebite Envenoming, which urges every state to make snakebite a notifiable disease. Snakebite kills an estimated 58,000 people in India each year—nearly half the global total—according to the Million Death Study cited by the World Health Organization. Implementation of the plan is beginning to reshape research and treatment. In Karnataka, The Liana Trust has opened a research-based serpentarium near Hunsur that already houses seven venomous species and will eventually keep about 400 snakes. The controlled facility will supply region-specific venom to antivenom manufacturers in an effort to improve product quality. The state is also backing the upcoming Venom Institute for Snakebite Health and Advanced Medicine (VISHAM) in Bengaluru with an initial allocation of ₹7 crore. Scientists at the Indian Institute of Science involved in the project are testing recombinant antibodies designed to neutralise toxins from multiple species, including the Russell’s viper, which accounts for the largest share of fatalities. Researchers quoted in local reports say the combination of better surveillance, modern antivenoms and public education is critical if India is to help the WHO meet its goal of halving global snakebite deaths by 2030.